Don't Close Your Eyes
by Yunami The Dragon
Summary: Brief, angsty RyUkyou songfic. References sex, but not really a lime...Bitter orange, maybe?


Disclaimer: Ranma ½ and all characters, settings, and related concepts are the copyrighted property of Rumiko Takahashi. This disclaimer won't hold up in court, but I'm hoping that Ms. Takahashi has better things to do than go around randomly suing her fans.  
  
Formatting notes: //text// indicates text that would normally be italicized.  
  
----*----  
  
Don't Close Your Eyes  
  
// I know you loved him A long time ago And even now in my arms You still want him I know But darlin' this time Let your memories die When you hold me tonight Don't close your eyes //  
  
She always moves away after they make love. No matter how he tries to please her, she moves out of his arms and turns her face to the wall. Her eyes don't see him. Her lips don't form his name. Even during this most intimate of contacts, she's not truly with him.  
  
//Don't close your eyes Let it be me Don't pretend it's him In some fantasy//  
  
During the day, everything seems fine. She glances up at him often, and there is genuine warmth in her eyes when she smiles. She giggles when he gets lost trying to answer the phone, then laughs at his indignant protests that it isn't funny. She even draws little pigs in the sauce on his okinomiyaki.  
  
//Darling just once Let yesterday go And you'll find more love Than you've ever known Just hold me tight when you love me tonight And don't close your eyes//  
  
Even most evenings, when the shop is closed, the kitchen spotless and dinner long since eaten, she is only his. Some nights, she simply lies silent in his arms, Some nights, she tells him about her dreams for the future; he hears the excitement in her voice when she talks about expanding Ucchan's into a chain of restaurants across Japan. She jokes that, together, they can take over the world. Though she never says it in so many words, it's always clear that he is meant to be a part of this future.  
  
//Maybe I've been a fool holding on all this time//  
  
But for all that...For all the secret smiles, shared dreams, and heart-shaped okinomiyaki, for all the signs that she truly cares for him...she's not really his. Not completely. When she reaches out to him in the secret places of the night, when soft pants and muffled moans break the silence of midnight, it's not truly him that she's with. It's not him she makes love to.  
  
//Lying here in your arms knowing he's in your mind//  
  
Again, he loses to Ranma.  
  
//But I keep hoping someday That you'll see the light Let it be tonight, don't close your eyes//  
  
Neither knows what exactly drove them to seek comfort in one another. It was less than a month after the wedding at the Tendo Dojo that he'd found himself in front of the Ucchan's. Broke, hungry, depressed, and with no real place to go, he'd accepted readily enough when she'd offered a place to stay and a job helping out around the shop.  
  
//Don't close your eyes Let it be me Don't pretend it's him In some fantasy Darlin' just once Let yesterday go And you'll find more love Than you've ever known//  
  
Gradually, they'd grown closer in their shared rejection. Quick, furtive smiles had evolved to longer looks. Light, almost accidental brushes became shy, casual touches. Where once they'd held hands so he didn't get lost, they now did so simply for the sake of being close. A peck on the cheek became a longer kiss. He found himself waking up in her bed more and more often, until, eventually, it was not her bed, but theirs.  
  
//Just hold me tight when you love me tonight And don't close your eyes//  
  
Nearly a year later, he's still there. His backpack hangs forgotten in her storage closet. His toothbrush shares the medicine cabinet with hers. His clothes are always clean, and his hair is shorter and neater than before.  
  
//Don't close your eyes Let it be me And don't pretend it's him In some fantasy//  
  
She swears he's not just a replacement for Ranma. She says he means so much more to her. He wants desperately to believe.  
  
//Darlin' just once Let yesterday go And you'll find more love Than you've ever known//  
  
That's why, tonight, he leaves the light on when he joins her in bed. Her eyes question him as he bends to kiss her throat.  
  
//Just hold me tight when you love me tonight And don't close your eyes//  
  
"So you remember who I am," he says quietly. He looks steadily into her eyes, willing her to understand.  
  
//Don't close your eyes Let it be me And don't pretend it's him In some fantasy Darlin' just once let yesterday go And you'll find more love than you've ever known//  
  
Her eyes fill with guilty tears, but she doesn't look away. Instead, she moves to return his embrace, and presses her lips to his.  
  
//Just hold me tight when you love me tonight And don't close your eyes//  
  
For the first time, she calls out his name. For the first time, she's truly with him. Tonight, for the first time, she doesn't turn away from his love.  
  
//Just hold me tight when you love me tonight And don't close your eyes...//  
  
----*----  
  
Notes: In case you were unable to figure it out, this is a Ryouga/Ukyou fic. The only excuse I have for the amount of angst in this is that, hey, it's Ryouga. Please let me know what you think...This is only about the third real songfic I've ever done. I apologize for the formatting, also. Fanfiction.net doesn't like lots of paragraph breaks. 


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